Breathtaking Beyoğlu 1481–1512

folk etymology of Beyoğlu.

According to the prevailing theory, the Turkish name of Pera, Beyoğlu, is a modification by folk etymology of the Venetian ambassadorial title ofBailo, whose palazzo was the most grandiose structure in this quarter. The informal Turkish-language titleBey Oğlu(literallySon of a Bey) was originally used by the Ottoman Turks to describe Lodovico Gritti, Istanbul-born son of Andrea Gritti, who was the Venetian Bailo in Istanbul during the reign of Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512) and was later elected Doge of Venice in 1523.

bailiff – the ol’ bailey

And if we follow that Bailo link, we learn:

Bailoorbaylo(pluralbailiorbayli) is a Venetian title that derives from the Latin termbaiulus, meaning “porter, bearer”. In English, it may be translated bailiff, or otherwise rendered as bailey, baili, bailie, bailli or baillie. The office of a bailo is abailaggio(sometimes anglicised “bailate”). The term was transliterated into Greek as μπαΐουλος (baioulos), but Nicephorus Gregoras translated it ἐπίτροπος (epitropos, steward) or ἔφορος (ephoros, overseer).